The Village of Northport will receive $59K from 2023 recreational marijuana tax revenue, the Michigan Department of Treasury announced last Thursday. The total tax revenue Northport will receive in the days ahead is a 14% increase over the prior year.
Northport, which is where Olean’s cannabis dispensary is located, is the only municipality in Leelanau County that allows recreational marijuana sales. For the state of Michigan’s 2023 fiscal year, each eligible municipality and county will receive more than $59,000 for every licensed retail store and micro business located within its jurisdiction.
“This is a nice economic boost for our community,” said Northport Village Council President Chris McCann. “We’re lucky. We’re the only community that’s taken advantage of it, and I don’t know if Leelanau County needs a dispensary in every town, and communities have shown that through their votes. I think the village saw, and by village I mean not just the council members but the citi- zens, that there would be benefi ts to having this type of business in Northport. At this point from my perspective, I think the positives outweigh whatever perceived negatives there could be and time will tell how that ratio goes on.”
While the village is getting its share of monies, more than $87 million is being distributed among 269 municipalities and counties as part of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation on Marijuana Act. Along with the $87 million in disbursements to state municipalities and counties, approximately $101.6 million was sent to the School Aid Fund for K-12 education. Another $101.6 million was dispersed to the Michigan Transportation Fund.
Marijuana in Michigan was first legalized in 2018, and sales have only increased year after year. According to the Cannabis Regulatory Agency, the state made more than $276 million last year from recreational and medical marijuana sales, and was on track to generate $3 billion in annual sales.
This is the second consecutive year the village will receive a boost from payments from the state’s Marijuana Regulation Fund. Last year, the village received $51,800 from the marijuana tax, which was added to the general fund to help offset expenditures. McCann said the village council and manager will discuss in the coming months the best ways to make use of the anticipated recurring payment.
“Do we just leave it in the general fund and spread it throughout? Or do we look at something specific? Could this money help with housing?… I think those are things we’re going to look at,” he said. “I think it will be interesting to see what we will come up with, how we can spend it, how we can utilize it for the betterment of the community.”
McCann said he expects Northport will keep collecting its annual marijuana tax revenue as long as Olean’s stays in business, adding that the reason they receive the funds in the first place is because the business continues to operate in town.
“It’s a way to take that tax and reinvest it in the communities that are allowing it to happen, A lot of this has to do with Olean’s and as long as it continues to be semi-profitable for them and they choose to stay in business, we’ll definitely benefit,” he said. “But if the market (changes) and things go a different way and they decide to close up, then we don’t have much say in that. But things are early on and we’ll see where it goes. Again, we’re happy to have a business here that is supporting our community members.”
